Game Notes at Concordia-Chicago

RIPON, Wis. - Ripon's 2016 football season will kickoff this weekend against a rare opponent, as the Red Hawks will travel to River Forest, Ill. to take on Concordia-Chicago, which hails from the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference. This will mark just the second all-time meeting between these two teams, with the first taking place in 1990, which was the season before current Head Coach Ron Ernst took over the program. That game resulted in a 52-6 victory and the Red Hawks would like to duplicate that result on Saturday.

"We can't have a slow start on either side of the ball, especially offensively. We must get off to a fast start because last year, our offense took about three or four weeks to really get on track," Ernst said. "Our defense also has to come ready to play and limit Concordia's big plays. In order for us to win this game, we're going to have to execute well and get off to a fast start."

Ripon has been one of the most consistent teams in the Midwest Conference in recent years, winning at least seven games in seven of their last 10 seasons. In 25 years as Head Coach, Ernst, who holds the MWC football record for career coaching wins, has experienced just two losing seasons.

The team is excited to continue that success this year, and they're just as excited about being able to hit someone different after laboring in the hot sun against their teammates during practice these last few weeks.

"We've had a good week of practice and the energy level has picked up since last weekend's Red-White scrimmage," Ernst said. "Our team is excited to play someone different and see how talented we are as a team."

During the annual Red-White scrimmage, Ernst saw some things that are very encouraging for the prospects of the team this season, which features just 11 seniors and 66 percent of the roster's 73 players being underclassmen.

"I saw improvement in all three phases of our game during our scrimmage," Ernst said. "The thing that makes me very optimistic is the level of improvement that we've seen. We are making less mental and physical mistakes each time we practice, which is very encouraging."

Ripon finished last season averaging 22 points per game, which ranked ninth in the MWC. The offense will try to increase that scoring output this year behind quarterback Griffin McNeal, who enters his sophomore campaign entrenched as the starter after starting the final three games of last season. In McNeal's three career starts, he led the Red Hawks to three wins, throwing for 363 yards and five touchdowns, while rushing for 241 yards (5.0 ypc) and four more scores.

"Griffin has made very good progress. He's more comfortable in his situation this year and has established himself as a team leader," Ernst said. "Griffin is the kind of guy you want at quarterback. He encourages his teammates and holds them accountable and he's really matured and grown at the position."

Ripon's defense meanwhile was one of the best in the conference last year, ranking third in the league in points allowed, giving up 18.4 points per game. They also ranked third in rushing defense (140.8 yards per game) and fifth in total defense (342.0 ypg).

That defense could have their work cut out for them on Saturday against an offense that put up 51 points in last year's season-opening win against Beloit. One of the top play-makers in the NACC, senior wide receiver Rashad Lofton could be a handful after leading the Cougars in receptions (42), receiving yards (606), receiving touchdowns (5), and yards per reception (14.4). He also led the way as a returner, averaging 40.8 yards on punt returns, including two touchdowns, and averaging 18.2 yards on kickoff returns.

"Lofton seems to be very fast, which can be tough to simulate in practice," Ernst said. "Our defense is going to have to rely on their technique and what they've been taught and apply what they've learned to the field."

Like Ripon, Concordia-Chicago will be starting a sophomore at quarterback in Shane Virnala. In the only game he played last year, Virnala led CU-C to a 51-50 victory over Beloit in their season opener, completing 21-of-26 passes (81 percent) for 249 yards and three touchdowns.

"Concordia is a big play team and we're going to have to control that," Ernst said. "Last year against Beloit, Concordia had 22 plays that I would classify as big plays, so we'll have to minimize that and control the ball with our offense in order to come out with the win."

Saturday's game will kickoff at 1 p.m. at Concordia Stadium in River Forest, Ill. It can be seen live at https://www.cuchicago.edu/live, with LiveStats available at http://www.sidearmstats.com/cuchicago/football/xlive.htm.